Sustainability overview

Undulate rays were a prohibited species for this area between 2009 and 2014. Since 2015, no directed fishery has been allowed to take place under EU regulations. ICES advises that there should be zero catches for this stock in years 2019 and 2020.

The stock status of Undulate rays in this area is unknown, though the stock size indicator shows that the population size is very low. In addition, another proxy for abundance shows that the number tagged of undulate rays in the sport fishery per year, has declined since the mid-1970s.

The EU had designated the Undulate ray as a Prohibited Species for commercial fishing vessels in ICES areas 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. This meant fishermen were prohibited from targeting, retaining, transhipping or landing the species in these areas. Tralee Bay is voluntarily closed to commercial fishing to protect regionally important elasmobranchs including the undulate ray. The undulate ray is a key marine species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). Undulate rays are managed under a minimum landing length, a 3 month ban on their landings during their breeding season, a code of good practice with stakeholders and requirements on how they are landed. The code of practice should be followed by fishermen to the greatest degree possible but greater enforcement is needed in fisheries to ensure these bans are effective: it has been recorded that enforcing a ban on tangle netting in Tralee Bay in Ireland is difficult and therefore, the species are at risk of overfishing.

Biology

Undulate rays belong to the Rajidae family, which includes most of the skates and rays commonly found in British waters, and sold at fishmongers. The undulate ray is a medium sized shelf species growing to a maximum length of 100 cm and weight of 10 kg. The species has a maximum age of 20 years with size and age at maturity estimated at 75 cm and 9 years for females and 73 cm and 7.5 years for males. Eggs are laid from March to September. Undulate rays are at the northern edge of their range in UK waters. They form discrete populations isolated from other stocks, for example, on the southwest coast of Ireland, with occasional records in the English Channel. They are also present along the south coast of England.

Stock information

Stock Area

Celtic Sea and west of Scotland

Stock information

Undulate rays were a prohibited species for this area between 2009 and 2014. Since 2015, no directed fishery has been allowed to take place under EU regulations. ICES advises that there should be zero catches for this stock in years 2019 and 2020.

There are no reference points to determine the undulate rays’ overfished status. There is no stock size indicator, though the population size is very low. The only proxy for abundance is the number of undulate rays tagged in the sport fishery per year, which shows a decline since the mid-1970s.

Management

The EU had designated the undulate ray as a Prohibited Species for commercial fishing vessels in ICES areas 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. This meant fishermen were prohibited from targeting, retaining, transhipping or landing the species in these areas. Tralee Bay has a voluntarily closure for commercial fishing, to protect regionally important elasmobranchs including the undulate ray. The undulate ray is a key marine species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). Undulate rays are managed under a minimum landing length, a 3 month ban on their landings during their breeding season, a code of good practice with stakeholders and requirements on how they are landed. The code of practice should be followed by fishermen to the greatest degree possible but greater enforcement is needed in fisheries to ensure these bans are effective: it has been observed that enforcing a ban on tangle netting in Tralee Bay in Ireland is difficult and therefore, the species are at risk of overfishing.

It is prohibited to fish using tangle nets in Tralee Bay and its surroundings. However, this has been difficult to enforce. More management is needed to reduce their catch as bycatch and their survivability when caught, particularly in otter trawls.

Monitoring There are limited landings and discard data for the species, therefore fishing mortality is unknown. Some fishery-independent surveys have taken place. General trawl surveys conducted in the region are unlikely to provide accurate abundance estimates of undulate rays because they have a very isolated distribution in this area, concentrated in Tralee Bay. Tagging studies were conducted between the 1970s and 2000s, which showed a declining trend in abundance. Their populations are unlikely to have increased considerably since this time given the life history of the undulate ray.

Capture Information

The Undulate Ray in this area has a very local distribution, mainly in Tralee Bay on the Southwest Irish coast. Undulate rays are not targeted in this fishery. It is caught in significant amounts as bycatch in tangle net fisheries which target spiny lobster or near-shore mixed-trawl fisheries. To mitigate this, there is a prohibition on tangle-netting in and around Tralee Bay and its vicinity, but it is difficult to enforce. Further measures are required to reduce the impact on undulate rays in this area. In this area, scientists advise that all Undulate Rays in this caught area should be released. Under current EU legislation, where a directed fishery for skates takes place, a mesh size in the cod-end of no less than 28cm is required and not less than 22cm in the rest of the trawl.

DiscardsTag-recapture studies suggest that when undulate rays are caught by tangle net, they were in better condition than when they were caught by otter trawl. Undulate ray survival may be higher than that for other skate species: their vigour (an indicator of health) was also found to be higher than that for other skate species, when caught using trawl and tangle nets (Ellis et al. 2018).

Habitat Bottom trawling has the potential to cause significant impact to habitat, such as removing or destroying physical features and reducing biota and habitat complexity. Therefore, the recovery time of the seabed after trawling varies greatly, and depends on the fishing gear, the substrate, intensity of the trawl and how accustomed the seabed is to natural disturbance.

Undulate rays are generally found over sandy substrates (Barnes 2008).

Alternatives

Based on method of production, fish type, and consumer rating:
only fish rated 2 and below are included as an alternative in
the list below. Click on a name to show the sustainable options
available.

Wild capture criterion scoring overview

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally sustainable fish. For
full details, please see the full wild-capture methodology available here.

Capture method and ecological effects

Score

Impact

0

Very low impact

0.25

Low impact

0.5

Some or moderate impact

0.75

High impact

1

Very high impact or illegal

Where environmental concerns from any one criteria are so great, a ‘critical fail’ may be triggered and the fishery awarded a default red
rating. For full details, please see the full wild-capture methodology available here.

What’s a sustainability range?

The sustainability of fish can vary significantly depending on how and where it has been caught or farmed. Many single species are caught or farmed in a variety of ways and this range shows that, within a species, some sources may be more sustainable than others.

To find out specific ratings, click on the 'Show options for this fish' button under the image of the fish.

'Best choices' are rated 1 and 2 (green), 'Fish to Avoid' are rated 5 (red). Ratings 3 and 4 mean 'Think' (yellow and amber), as there are better rated alternatives.

Fish that are under review are shown with a question mark icon and no rating.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation Society to help consumers and businesses choose the most environmentally sustainable fish.

To be assessed

Seafood sources indicated as, 'To be assessed', are those that have not yet been assessed and assigned a rating or are undergoing a period
of review. These include sources previously rated by MCS for which the rating has lapsed, due to changes in the market or MCS priorities and
resources. Given that these sources are not fully assessed, the profile should not be used to infer the current sustainability of the
fishery or farmed species.

If you are interested in the sustainability of this seafood source, please let us know by emailing
ratings@mcsuk.org

Rating 1

Rating 1 (light green) is associated with the most
sustainably produced seafood.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 3

Rating 3 (yellow) based on available information; these
species should probably not be considered sustainable at
this time. Areas requiring improvement in the current
production may be significant. Eat only occasionally and
check www.goodfishguide.org for specific details.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 4

Rating 4 (orange) should not be considered sustainable, and
the fish is likely to have significant environmental issues
associated with its production. While it may be from a
deteriorating fishery, it may be one which has improved from
a 5 rating, and positive steps are being taken. However, MCS
would not usually recommend choosing this fish.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation
Society to help consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Red Improver

'Red improver' ratings are assigned to seafood sources which have been assessed and rated 5 (red) due to significant environmental concerns
with one or more aspects of their management, capture or production, yet credible efforts to improve these issues have been agreed through a
Fisheries or Aquaculture Improvement Project – a FIP or an AIP - and work is underway. Such projects are normally publicly listed at
www.fisheryprogress.org. MCS wants to encourage environmental improvements in fisheries and fish farms, and so does not recommend avoiding
these sources, as we normally do for seafood rated 5 (red rated).

'Best choice' fish are rated 1 and 2, Fish to Avoid are rated 5.

This system has been developed by the Marine Conservation Society to help businesses and consumers choose the most environmentally
sustainable fish.

Rating 5

Rating 5 (red) is associated with fish to be avoided on the
basis that all or most of the criteria for sustainablilty
have not been met.